Flirt
by Ryn729
Summary: She smiled flirtatiously at the man next to her. The next thing she knew he was being flung across the room. Is Kakashi just being protective or is there another motive behind the way hes been acting? small SakuraxOCC/ main SakuraxKakashi Lemons and fluff
1. Secret Dates

**Author's Note:** Hey. I was reading some other SakuKaka fics and they really inspired me to write my own. I am still working on my other fic and have another one planed. I am trying to get back on a schedule and release chapters more frequently. This will be an eventual Sakura Kakashi pairing, but it will not be obvious or easy. They will be lots of other coupling too. If there is a specific couple you want included just let me know and I was absolutely put it in (unless it is absolutely crazy) Hope ya'll enjoy. I am open to all comments, reviews, flames, suggestion, and anything else you want to say. I always respond to whatever anyone has to say, don't be shy. . 

**Disclaimer:** I only want to say this once. I. Do. Not. Own. Naruto.

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**Chapter Four**

_Secret Dates_

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"Shit! Where is that damn earring!", she yelled as she searched her room frantically. She was currently bent over looking under her bed when she heard a familiar voice call from her door way.

"Jesus Forehead, could ya quiet down? I am pretty sure Suna could hear that scream.", her blonde ex-rival/best friend/ room mate said while rubbing her temples.

"Another late night, ne Ino?", the pink haired kunoichi asked with a giggle.

A slight moan escaped her mouth translating as a yes. She had spent the previous night with Choji at the local watering hole celebrating his recent mission success. Sakura could tell that the night had obviously gotten out of hand, judging by the fact that Choji was still laying in Ino's bed, apparently naked. Ino herself was scantily clad in a short pink robe. 'My robe', Sakura noticed.

Ino was still rubbing her temples, trying to remember what exactly had happened last night and stop the world from spinning. When she finally reopened her eyes they went wide.

"Oh, now I see.", she said noticing what Sakura was wearing, "Another date with Takeshi ne?"

The blush on Sakura's face was all Ino needed to know the answer.

"But why so early?", she asked looking around for a clock to see exactly what time it was. When she finally saw it she gasp. "Holy shit, it is already 1?"

Sakura could only laugh as she saw her friend run into the bathroom to get cleaned up. God forbid anyone see her looking like that, even if it was in her own home. She smiled again when she finally found the elusive earring on her dresser. After placing it safely in her ear, she turned to get a look at herself. She was dressed perfectly for her little lunch date. She had on a flowing skirt that ended just before her knees, it was all red with a white flower print and a plain white top that fit her figure snugly. She turned to the side to get a better view of herself. She was quite pleased with the way she looked, she had perfectly developed breasts that, although they could never compare to her master's, were in perfect proportion to her petite from. Her most favorite feature, or should she say features, were her long legs. She had worked hard to keep them tone and, while most kunoichi had perfectly shaped legs due to their line of work, Sakura's were toned to perfection. Her hair was a bit longer, just touching her shoulders instead of hanging just below her ears. She had lost the baby fat on her face, leaving her with high cheekbones and even plusher lips. She again turned to check her back briefly, like every girl does when looking at a full length mirror, before facing the mirror head on again. 

At that moment Ino came out of the bathroom. She had abandoned the robe for a super short denim shorts, but had yet to find a top. She strolled into Sakura's room in just her skirt and a black bra and immediately began opening drawers.

"Excuse me?", Sakura asked impatiently, annoyed by the blonde's lack of respect for her privacy. 

"Do you know where that shirt is?", Ino asked, while opening another drawer.

"Which one?", she asked shortly.

"You know…… the purple one……….with the designy thingies on the front." she said, now looking expectantly at the pink hair girl who still seemed lost. "You know! The short one……….with the low back"

"Oh!", she exclaimed as she snapped back to reality. She opened her closet briefly and revealed the top to Ino. But as she reached out to accept it Sakura pulled it away. "This is MY top, Ino-pig!"

"And THAT is mine!", she countered pointing to the white top Sakura was currently wearing.

The two girls stared at each other for a moment before reaching a silent agreement and Sakura gave the other girl the top.

"Thank you!" Ino said smugly as she lipped on the stop and stepped next to Sakura to see herself in the mirror. Sakura noticed Ino's similar shape. She had slightly larger breast then Sakura, but her legs were not nearly as long and her butt could not even compare. Ino's best feature, according to Ino, was her slim waist and perfectly flat stomach and, of course, her long shiny perfect blonde hair. As the two girls stood in the mirror, she could not help but laugh. She remembered the day her and Ino moved in together, their first week was spent buying thick curtains, and slightly tinted to windows to discourage the peeping shinobis. 'Who could blame them?' she thought vainly.

"So where are you two off to today?", Ino asked, satisfied with the way she looked.

"Not sure. He said he wanted to surprise me. He knows today will be our last afternoon together for a while before we will have to resort to more secretive places.", she said as she sat on her bed.

"Oh, the guys are coming back from that mission tomorrow right?"

"Mhmm", was her only response. It had been this way for a while now. The day Sakura had turned eighteen and had been deemed available she had been hit on every day by various guys in the village. It scared her at first and she had made the mistake of telling this to 'her guys'. Sasuke and Naruto had immediately spread out to warn everyone the consequences of even coming near their precious teammate. Though there were still some who did not fear the Kyuubi or the last Uchiha and persisted in their attempts at Sakura. It was at this time that the two enlisted the help of the final member of their team to help them out. All it took was one drunk guy to grope her before Kakashi himself became enlisted in her 'protection crew'. 

She was flattered at first, but after a few months she grew tired of it. A guy could not even talk to her without receiving death glares from the five eyes that always seemed to be watching. 

She could remember one time in particular. The four of them were in a bar in a small village in the Wind Country. They had recently finished a grueling mission and desperate to relax. Sakura offered to get them a round and stood from the booth to walk over to the bar. The three men she left behind were in a deep conversation, or rather argument, about who was to write up the report. She giggled lightly as she sat down on the bar stool as signaled to the tender.

He was a young guy, maybe only a few years older than Sakura. He had short spiky brown hair and dreamy hazel eyes. Sakura blushed when he stood in front of her and flashed her a perfect smile.

"What can I get ya?", he asked flirtatiously, giving her a slight wink.

She peered briefly over her should to see that her team mates were still engaged in their chat. Satisfied she turned back around with a smile of her own. 'Finally! A chance to actually talk with a guy.' she thought

"Something light", she said leaning into the bar a bit more.

Without looking away, the bartender reached one hand down and revealed a bottle of expensive vodka, while the other hand grabbed two shot glasses and placed them in front of her. Wordlessly he poured them each a drink and held his up. She clinked his glass with her before they simultaneously downed the clear liquids. 

After placing her glass back on the wooden bar she met his gaze.

"Sakura", she said shortly.

"Excuse me?" he asked curiously.

"My name. Its Sakura.", she said coyly.

He chuckled a bit and poured them another round, "Hmm, I didn't think I asked."

"You hadn't", she replied as she swallowed her glass again. "I just thought I would save you the trouble." 

He seemed to look her over for a moment as he took in his own drink. "Hachi"

"Excuse me?", she asked with her sexiest smile.

He could see where this was going, and it brought a slight grin to lips. "My name. its Hachi."

"Hmm, I didn't think I asked.", she replied mockingly.

He chuckled. "You know Sakura, you're pretty cute."

She blushed at his comment and save him a hungry look. She had been waiting for a moment like this for a while. A moment to test her 'moves' and see how well they worked. 

"Hachi," she said as innocently as she could muster as she placed her hand softly on the arm he had resting on the bar. "are you flirting with me?" 

"If I am?", he asked leaning close to her face. 

"Hmm, well then I guess----"

"Yo", she heard a voice next to her cut her off while taking her hand off Hachi's arm. "I thought you were getting us drinks Sakura? What happened"

"Nothing Kaka-sensei," she said bitterly, " I was merely chatting with the bartender here." She turned back to the guy, giving him another slight wink.

"In any case, I think you should go sit down and I will get the drink", he replied, slightly angrier then he seemed to be before"

"Sensei---", she started before she was cut off again by a different voice.

"Listen chief, can't you see we are busy here. Why don't _you _go sit down.", Hachi said as he reached out and laid his hand on Sakura's arm.

Sakura tried to stop him, knowing that he had spoke to big for his own good. But before she could interject at all the hand was ripped from her arm as Hachi was flung over the bar onto his back. Kakashi had a kunai at his throat and clear anger in his voice as he hissed, "Touch her again and you will lose your fingers. You understand me?"

The poor man in his arms shook in both fear and agreement as Kakashi released his hold and stood up. 

"Kaka-sensei, what the hell was that!", she screamed, but she was silenced instantly by the clear look of anger and possessiveness that gleamed in his eyes as he faced her. 

Since then, Sakura had resorted to secret dating. Mostly when her teammates were out on assignments without her, which was rare but still happened on account of her being an ANBU. Sasuke was forbidden from ever becoming a member of the elite squad due to his previous disloyalty, even though he had come back on his own. Naruto didn't not feel right about becoming a member without Sasuke and promised that he would wait until the two of them reversed the Hokage's decision. Sakura, however was pratically forced to join by her shishou, who declared the ANBU needed her and her skills.

"So what time is Takeshi-sempai coming to pick you up?" Ino asked as she rummaged through Sakura's vanity looking for an appropriate shade of lip gloss.

Takeshi was a fellow ANBU that Sakura had met during her initiation. Both her and Ino had passed the test with flying colors, Sakura by using her insane strength and superb medic skills and Ino with her improved mind control jutsu and her personalized sexy jutsu. Takeshi was actually the ANBU member she had to face in the final round, which was basically "Beat a current member, you're in". He was around four years older than her, which was she did not recognize him. He had put up an exceptional fight with Sakura being the ultimate victor. The fight had lead to talking which had lead to flirting which lead to him asking her out which lead to them dating. And being in their current position. 

They had been together for about five months and no one in the village knew, except for Ino who was sworn to secrecy. They both knew that if the village knew then it would only be a matter of time before her boys found out and everything went to hell. The couple had resorted to discreet dating, and both being elite ANBU, they found it to be quite easy. They even wound up becoming ANBU partners, allowing them occasional escapes from the village to be as out in the open as they wanted. The result being, that they two frequently took mission to get away, this improved her ranking as well as giving her plenty of money.

"In about ten minutes." she answered looking at this watch on her wrist. "Shouldn't you be getting back to Choji Ino?" she asked with a grin.

"Ugh, I still don't know how it happened. I remember having a couple of drinks and complementing him on his weight loss. Then……" she pondered for a moment as if trying to remember. "I guess we just started talking about his body. Then be started complementing me and then…..I wake up and he is there too."

"Surprised?"

"Not really I guess. I mean he is my teammate and the only guy I know who does not make me feel like some piece of meat." Her eyes softened for a moment before she turned her back and proceeded to walk out of Sakura's room. "I guess I should get back. You know what kind of appetite he has, thank Kami you'll be out of the house." she said with a wink at Sakura.

The pink haired girl could only laugh in return. "Just don't ruin that top." she sad jokingly.

"No need to worry about that" she smirked as she took the shirt off and threw it at Sakura then walked into her room and shut the door. 

Before Sakura had a chance to react she heard a knocking at her door. She opened it, revealing a tall man with dark hair that framed his face and covered his ears. He had beautiful blue eyes and a perfect smile that created two small dimples on either side. He was wearing plain dark jeans, and an open short sleeved shirt with a white wife beater underneath it.

"Keshi-kun", was all she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck bringing him in for a slow kiss. "Shall we go? It is our last day and Ino has some company over" she said slowly making sure he understood.

"Ohh", he said attempting to look over his should to catch a glimpse at the visitor. But to no avail seeing as Sakura had closed the door. "Aww Sakura, you're no fun"

"Come on pervert." she mocked, taking him by the hand and leading him outside.

They arrived at the restaurant moments later. Both lost in laughs at something funny that had just happened. She was brought back to reality by the waiter, asking if she needed a table. "Oh. Yeah. For two, please." It was the perfect place for them, dim secluded and considerably unpopular with Konoha residents. They were quickly seated at their usual table in the back corner. 

They engaged in usual conversation and talked suggestively about asking the Hokage for another mission. A long mission. He leaned forward to whisper provocative things about what they were going to do on that mission, when something else caught her attention. Rather someone else. Rather three someone else.

"Shit", she said as she pushed him away from her.

Hurt and confusion turned to understanding as he followed his gaze and saw the three shinobi walking towards them.

"Oi, Sakura-chan!" she heard her blonde teammate called. She quickly masked her disappointment at her ruined date, with a wide smile.

"Hey Naruto", she saw her other two team mated standing behind Naruto eyeing her and the man with her. "You remember my partner Takeshi-sempai, ne"

Takeshi mimicked her face smile. "Konichiwa, Naruto-san, Sasuke-san, Kakashi-sempai." he said with a small honest bow.

"Nice to meet ya", was Naruto's response

"Hn", came from Sasuke

But Kakashi did not speak, he just kept looking at the two of them, with an unreadable expression on his face.

Before Sakura knew it, the three had joined them at their small round table and Naruto was excitedly talking about their recent mission and glorifying success. Takeshi was on one side of her, with Kakashi on her other side. They were all close together in order to make room for them all to fit. It became even more crowded when the food arrived, making it easy for Takeshi to slip his hand from the table and rest it on Sakura's thigh. 

She had not even flinched, and continued eating and talking as though his hand was not even there. Takeshi smiled at her self-control, hiding it with a sip of water. He wondered how far he could go without getting a response. Slowly he moved his hand down to her knee, making his way underneath her skirt. He then moved his hand back up to its original place, this time touching skin to skin. 

She still remained unfazed. She slowly took a sip of her water, using it to shield her face as she smiled briefly and gave him a wink. He took this as a cue to continue. He began to move his hand in circular motions against her thigh. He looked at the table and noticed that the three younger ones seemed completely interested in their conversation while the white haired man seemed focused on something outside. This gave him the perfect cover to move all the way up until his hand met the final resistance of her panties. Her dry panties. This only encouraged him to try harder. His fingers slipped inside the weak cloth and continued their circular motions. He felt her close her thighs, causing his fingers to go in even deeper, increasing her pleasure. 

At that exact moment he heard her laugh, "Typical Naruto." she said proving to her team mates that her focus was on the conversation and proving to Takeshi that she still had control. This time he could not hide his smile. His fingers moved up and down still inside her. He could see her close her eyes briefly in pleasure as he increased his pace. He could feel her walls tightening as she came closer to her release, still giving no indication to the rest of the table as to what was happening. But before she could completely finish he removed his fingers completely and returned them to the table as if nothing had happened. He then continued to eat as he chanced a sideways glance to his pink-haired companion. 

He could see, though she tried so hard to hide it, she was disappointed and chuckled at her. This caught her attention. She let her eyes travel to his side just long enough to see him like his fingers. To the others it looked like he was just savoring the taste of his domburi but Sakura knew what he was tasting. He was tasting her. Control flew out the window as she blushed a bright red.

But then she noticed another pair of eyes on her other side. Or rather, just one eye. She turned her head to him to flash him a friendly smile, but as soon as she did she could see anger in his eye as his gazed moved from her to Takeshi and then back to her. Her smile drained as she looked at him, pleading with him not to say anything. But it was too late.

He knew. And he was standing up.

_To Be Continued_

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**Clarification:**

Takeshi is four years Sakura's senior and Ino and Sakura's superior, so he is sempai to them (even though he is Sakura's partner) but Kakashi has much more experience than him so he is sempai to Takeshi. 

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**Translations:**

Takeshi- Bamboo tree-Unbending 

Shishou - Master

Domburi- A bowl of cooked rice with some other food put on top of the rice. Some of the most popular toppings are tempura, egg and chicken, and beef. (Takeshi's favorite meal)

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_Check out my other fic __**Family Values**_

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	2. Standing Up

**Author's Note:** I was really happy with everyone's response to this story. It really warms my heart and motivates me to update as fast as possible. I know a lot of people were asking about the whole Chapter Four thing. I want to clarify that it was a TYPO. That was the FIRST CHAPTER. And this is the SECOND. I promise I will not make that mistake again. I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter as much. It is kind of just a lead to the next chapter, where the real shit is going to go down.

**Disclaimer:** I said I was only going to say it once, but here it is again. I do not own Naruto.

**Chapter Two**

_Standing Up_

_Flashback:_

_But then she noticed another pair of eyes on her other side. Or rather, just one eye. She turned her head to him to flash him a friendly smile, but as soon as she did she could see anger in his eye as his gazed moved from her to Takeshi and then back to her. Her smile drained as she looked at him, pleading with him not to say anything. But it was too late._

_He knew. And he was standing up._

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She was on her feet just as fast, eyes locked on the silver haired man ahead of her.

Different expressions could be see around the table. Naruto's mouth was wide in shock, Sasuke had raised a curious eyebrow, Takeshi was frozen in fear at the thought of the legendary shinobi and what he could do to him and Sakura….. Sakura eyes were begging for mercy.

It seemed like an eternity passed. Sakura and Kakashi looking at each other. Her eyes weak and pleading. His half-lidded eyes emotionless. It was Naruto, as always, who broke the silence.

"Ano, what is going on?", the blonde asked.

There was no response.

"Oi, Kaka-sensei! I said, what the hell is going on?", he repeated more heatedly.

Kakashi remained still, showing no intention of answering. But slowly he turned his gaze to Naruto. Then back to Sakura.

And then he did something no one was expecting.

He left.

Sakura saw weird expression flush his eye right before he turned away, but she could not place it. Was it anger? She did not know, but she did know one thing. She did not like it.

"What was that about?", Sasuke asked, breaking the silence. The question was directed explicitly at Sakura. But she did not answer. She stoof there for a second loner, looking at where Kakashi had exited. She then turned to Sasuke with a calm smile.

"I have no idea. I think he just got bored.", she then looked at the watch on her wrist and feigned shock. "Oh my Takeshi, look at the time!" he looked confusedly at his own watch "We are supposed to be at the hospital. You have to get those stitches checked, right?", she prompted with a subtly wink.

He picked up on the hint and stood to excuse himself from the table. "It was very nice to meet you both, but I am afraid I really must go. Lets do this again sometime."

He was barely able to finish before Sakura grabbed his arm and led him out of the restaurant. "Talk to you later boys". She screamed over her shoulder as she walked out.

The two remaining teammates sat confused at the table. "Do you feel like we are being left out of something?", the blonde asked.

"Hn", was the only response as the raven haired shinobi took another sip of his tea.

"Shit, that was weird", Sakura said. She was walking next to Takeshi down the streets in the direction of her apartment.

"You're telling me. I think I almost pissed my pants imaging what Hatake Kakashi could do to me.", Takeshi responded with a distant and terrified look in his eyes.

Sakura chuckled. "Aw, is Keshi-kun afraid of the big scary copy ninja?", she teased.

He looked at her and nodded childishly in agreement. Causing them both to start laughing again.

They had reached her building and were walking up the stairs to her door. "I guess our little date didn't exactly go as planned, but I got some food inside."

"I think I am more interested in desert", he stated suggestively with a smirk as he snaked his arms around her waist, stopping her from walking and forcing her into a kiss. "I do have a mission coming up and who knows how long I will be gone." he put on his best 'pity me' voice.

She chuckled again. "It is a simple escort mission, it should only take no more than three days."

"And how do you know all this?", he asked curiously.

"Well, I am the apprentice to the Hokage. You would be surprised by how much I know."

By this time they had reached her door. She was about to open it when she heard loud noises and moaning coming from inside.

"Uhhh…", she started.

"My place?" he suggested.

"Sounds good.", she replied quickly heading down the stairs.

They exited to the street again, this time heading towards his apartment. They walked in a comfortable silence and Sakura took this opportunity to think about a certain silver haired jounin. Why didn't he do anything? Why didn't he say anything? What is wrong with him? All these questions raced through her mind as she walked. By the time they reached the apartment, Sakura had decided that she would talk to him tomorrow and straighten things out.

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The next morning she woke alone in Takeshi's bed. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She laughed to herself when she thought that they had spent the entire day inside together. Or more specifically, in bed together. Only getting up to order some food before once again returning to bed. She had to admit, Takeshi was an incredible lover.

She lazily looked around the room, taking it all in. They hardly ever went to his place.

'_And for good reason.'_, she thought to herself. His apartment was considerably smaller then hers, because unlike her he did not have two incomes (medic and kunoichi), no roommate (Ino of course) and no inheritance (the one her parent had left her when they died). In addition to its size, the place looked hopelessly like a bachelor's: it was messy, there was never anything to eat and the furniture screamed butch. She got up slowly, stretching her joints and enjoying the crackling of her back. She threw on one of Takeshi's shirts and wondered into the kitchen.

She opened the fridge was surprised.

There was actually food in there. And a note.

**Sakura,**

**Thought last night might leave you a bit hungry.**

**Got these just for you.**

**Sorry I had to leave so early.**

**See you soon**

**T**

She took out the package of eggs and the juice and made herself a decent breakfast. Takeshi had been correct in his assumptions, she was starving.

As she ate she thought of what she had to do that day. Afternoon of training with Shizune. Dinner with Ino. Midnight shift at the hospital. '_A nice slow day.'_ she thought to herself.

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She finished eating and started cleaning her dishes, which lead to her cleaning the whole kitchen, before she eventually made it back to the bedroom. She threw on her clothes from the previous day and teleported herself back to her apartment.

Or more specifically, outside the door to her apartment. She did not want to poof in on anything.

After being sure that they was nothing going on inside, she opened the door. Her eyes immediately fell on Ino, who was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. Sakura's cereal.

"Hey, where have you been?", she asked with a suggestive wink.

"You know where I have been, Pig. The real question is what was going on here yesterday? A little afternoon delight with Choji?", Sakura countered, trying to engage in some friendly rival-like banter with her best friend.

Which is why she was shocked when Ino actually blushed.

"Ino, did you just blush?!", she asked. "But you never….."

"Shut it Forehead.", she said with a smile, her eyes obviously in another place. "I think I really like him" she whispered.

"This is not just because of his new jutsu and the fact that he is skinny now, is it?", she asked, with a serious tone. She knew how vain her friend was.

Ino did not look up. "I honestly don't know. I think it may have started out that way, but I have always been close to Choji and his the only one who has always made me feel wanted."

"Good enough for me", was the girl's only response before she retired to her bathroom for a necessary shower. She had been too afraid to take one at Takeshi's.

As the water poured down on her, she thought of Kakashi.

"I almost forgot, I have to talk to him today". She pounded into her brain so that she wuld not forget.

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She stepped out of her room an hour later, now dry and sporting her training clothes which consisted of red tank top that exposed her shoulders, the rest of her arms her wrapped in bindings up to her knuckles, the shirt ended in the middle of her stomach allowing for a nice view of her well toned abs and an even better view when she bent or stretched and is rode up. Tight black shorts hugged her hips and stopped mid thigh, once again permitting a decent view of her long legs. Over the shorts, she wore a dark khaki skirt that contained enough pockets and pouches for all her necessities and her gloves. The final feature were her long black boots that came up to just below her knees.

When she came out she once again saw Ino in the kitchen, this time getting herself an apple and throwing another to Sakura. She caught it perfectly and the two headed out to the training grounds.

Once they arrived, Ino went to find Tenten who was going to help her with her kunai skills in exchange for some advice about Neji. The two had been going out for a while now, and Tenten, always the tomboy, was always asking Ino for girly advice. Though Sakura felt that Ino's help did more harm than good.

Sakura headed to the far field to find Shizune.

Her 'big sister' was teaching her what Shizune called 'The art of wielding, administering and healing deadly poisons in battle'

It was not a skill that Sakura was overly eager to learn, but she was always willing to learn new jutsus to improve herself as both a kunoichi and a medic.

But when she arrived at the field, it was not Shizune she saw. Instead, she saw two shinobis sparring fiercely in the middle of grass that appeared to have been burned to ash.

"Sakura-chan", she heard one of them yell as the two stopped fighting.

"Hey Naruto. Hey Sasuke", she greeted with a smile. "Have you guys seen Shizune? I was supposed to meet her here."

"Yeah actually, she got called away by Tsunade. She told us to wait here to tell you, she will be back, and then we started training. Which led to sparring…"

"Which led to me kicking Naruto's ass", the Uchiha interjected.

Sakura could only laugh as the two began to bicker and fight again.

She took this as an opportunity to find a nice tree to relax in and get some rest before Shizune got back.

She found one that had a good view of the ground, and the boys fighting, and that was reasonably shady, and jumped onto one of the branches and settled herself comfortably against the bark. She was just getting comfortable before a noise from above her caused her to almost fall.

"Yo"

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you trying to do? Get me to fall to my death?", she asked him playfully.

"Aw, Sakura I would never do such a thing. At least not on purpose.", he replied with his famous eye crinkle.

She could not help but let out a small chuckle before her eyes got serious again.

"Ano, sensei…..About yesterday…."

"Why do you still call me sensei Sakura?", he interrupted

Sakura paused for a moment. Is this a serious question? Is he trying to avoid the topic? Why is he asking all of a sudden? Sakura herself had so many questions, but she still needed to answer his.

"I don't know, I guess it is just a habit. I know we are supposed to be equals now and you are no longer my teacher. I will try to stop. Okay, Kakashi?" she looked up at him with a smile to see that he was no longer looking at her, he was now staring intently at the sky in a true Shikamaru-like fashion.

"Sakura", he started, still not looking at her. "About yesterday……"

_To Be Continued._

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**Translations:**

Ano- Um

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_To My Dear Reviewers:_

**JiraiyasGirl-** First off: Thanks for being my first reviewer!! As a reward I snuck in some more InoChoji, I always try to add in things reviewers want. Sorry no Takeshi ass kicking in this chapter, but it will happen. He is definitely a pervert. And I agree, Sakura is a grown woman and she will stick up for herself. She is just trying not to hurt 'her boys'.

**Theliz82-** Sorry if you are disappointed that it did not turn out like you expected. The next chapter will explain his actions much better. Thank you for encouraging me to continue.

**Kakashi88-** Thank you for the support and encouragement.

**SakuraIsAPlayer-** I loved your reaction, and am glad to see that you are interested in the story.

**Crying.Mishieru-** Jealously can drive men to do crazy things, lol. He will be getting much, much, more protective soon.

**Roxnroll-** I am really glad to hear that you are enjoying it

**Ashleysays17-** Hope you continue to love the story. Your reviews are always encouraging.

**NaruHinaforever-** Yeah he is a pervert. Wait and see how perverted he gets. Sakura IS a kunoichi, she has to be able to keep her cool in these kinds of situations.

**DojomistressAmbyChan-** Sorry about the typo. No, that was the first chapter, not the fourth. Sorry if you were expecting an ass beating, don't worry its coming and it will be brutal.

**CeruleanRider-** Sorry about the lack of ass whopping, but fear not, Takeshi will have his ass kicked eventually, and possibly many times. Thank you for the encouragement.

**HANAJIMA UCHIHA-** Glad that you are enjoying. My goal now is to turn that 'pretty good' into a 'great'. lol

**Norikoko-** Glad to see you find it interesting. : )

**Moodymel**- I thought the same thing. The idea of a possessive Kakashi is what really motivated the fic.

**Oni-hime-san-** You definitely win an award for most enthusiastic response. The chapter four thing was a typo, that was only the first chapter, my intention was never to confuse you. Good eye though for spotting it lol.

**A thousand cranes-** I love your word 'Byakugan'd' I think I might have to use it, lol. Hinata will definitely play a role in this story, and those nifty eyes of hers will start some drama.

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THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING!!

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_Check out my other fics __**Family Values **__and __**To Produce an Heir**_

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	3. Shame

_**Author's Note:**__ I have no excuses for the long wait, I am not even going to fake it. I really tried to spend a decent amount of time on this chapter. I loved all of your reviews. I especially took into account **Mateba's** review, I really respect her as an author and all KakaSaku fans should check out her fic 'How Things Go', its really great. Also, **Juniper11's** review reminded me of my cliff hanger rule that I used against her soo many times, which motivated me to get this out faster. I promise everyone that I will NEVER take this long again._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Naruto. _

_**Chapter Three**_

_Shame _

"Sakura", he started, still not looking at her. "About yesterday……"

Her eyes remained guess to him. He had thought when he changed the subject that he did not want to discuss the topic, but apparently he wanted to bring it up and get the first word. His continued to look upwards, as if he were trying to find the words to say next.

"Sen-Kakashi, I'm so sor-", she started.

"How long Sakura?", he asked.

She paused in confusion. '_How long what?'_, she asked herself, thinking of the numerous things he could be asking for.

"How long have you been seeing Murakami-san?", he clarified.

Sakura took a moment to scold her perverted mind, she was imagining questions far worse then the duration of her secret relationship.

"Fifth months", she stated plainly. She knew these questions were bound to happen, and was happy to answer them instead of a more embarrassing inquiry about yesterday's under the table occurrence. She decided that anything he wanted to know, she would tell him. '_I just wish he would look at me'_

As if reading her mind, Kakashi looked down to make eye contact with her.

'_There's that look again,_' she thought to herself as she stared trying to decipher what he was feeling. The elusive shinobi was never one for expressing himself, with the added help of his hitai-ate and mask it was easy to maintain a passive appearance. She couldn't count the number of times she had wished she could read his mind, or at least rip off that damn mask. All these years as his student, you would think she would have learned something about how to read him. But he had always kept them at an arms length. As close as they all were, he always seemed far away.

"Sakura, why didn't you say anything to us?", he asked solemnly.

She let out a long sigh. She had had an answer prepared for months to answer this question, since her first secret relationship. It was a long heated speech about her needing privacy, and her being a grown women that did not need their constant protection. She had played it out in her head numerous times, each time she was confident and at the end the boys were on their knees apologizing and promising to give her space. She knew it would probably not happen that well, but still, she always had it planned out.

But now, looking up at Kakashi, the man who had been her mentor and friend for so long, she felt all her energy slip away. She lost her words, and could not think of anything to say to him because he did not look angry or upset like she had imagined them all being when she told them, he looked….. Well she still could not tell. It seemed so much deeper then just his normal passive look.

She had to stop looking at him, she was starting to feel weird. "I-I don't know.", she said. '_Why am stuttering?'_, she thought.

She chanced a glance upwards and was surprised to see that he was not there anymore. She looked around to see where he went, thinking that maybe he had decided to discontinue the conversation and left her, she turned her back to see if he was on one of the branches behind her, but when she returned to her sitting position he was right in front of her. She was sitting with her back against the trunk of the tree and he was now squatted in front of her.

"Sakura, we are a team. You, me, Sasuke and Naruto. If we are going to function properly, there can be no secrets. You should know the importance of teamwork, if I taught you anything I should hope I taught you that.", he said in his 'sensei voice'.

It was a far stretch from the previous tension. She thought they were actually having 'a moment', the kind where Kakashi showed his human side, but in true Kakashi fashion he never let his façade falter for too long. The sudden change in Kakashi's manner, caused a turn in Sakura as well. Her senses snapped back into place and her previous hesitations were gone. It was replaced by anger, he went from talking like a friend to his safe sensei mode and making her feel like a child. There was no way she was going to let him talk down to her like this.

"Is that what you are concerned about, Kakashi-sensei?", she asked, her voice starting to raise and her confidence building. "Kami, why must you continue to treat me like some child? Don't you think I would have told you if I thought you would act civilly? You expect me to believe that if I told you from the beginning that I would still be able to see Takeshi, that you wouldn't scare him away or send him to the hospital? It seems as if you all think I am clueless as to what you have been doing. I know that you have been scaring guys away from me. It was flattering at first I guess, my protective boys looking out for me but how long were you going to keep it up? Was I supposed to just never have a boyfriend or a date or anything? Huh, sensei? Tell me! What was the grand plan? Have me be single for the rest of my life?"

She had tried to remain as calm as possible throughout her rant, but found it to be quite difficult and by the end she was panting and could feel her heart racing. All the while, Kakashi had remained silent and in the same position, looking right at her. She glared at him, waiting for an answer. After seeing that he was obviously not going to say anything, she stood up.

"Typical Kakashi.", she stated with a disappointed sigh before she jumped down to the earth below.

She began to walk back to the village, 'Shizune is most likely at the tower', she figured. She had barely walked a few feet before Kakashi was in front of her. She glared at him and went to walk around him, his hand shot out and grabbed her arm before she could even react. She yanked her arm from his grasp and took a step back. She continued to glare, and was shocked to see that he was glaring right back. At least, it looked like a glare to her.

"Everything we did was to protect you", he stated, as if it would answer all of her questions.

"From what?", she asked "I can take care of myself, Kakashi."

"Really?", he replied incredulously. His eyes soften dramatically for a moment before he continued, "Is that why you let that guy take advantage of you like that yesterday at lunch?"

The kunoichi could not stop the blush from heating up her face at his statement, wiping the glare clean off.

"Oh..", seemed to be all she could muster out. She wracked her brain for something to say, but was again interrupted.

"Its as if we don't even know you anymore, Sakura.", he said.

She could not hide the hurt she felt at his last statement. She loved her team more than anything, and to think she had lost Kakashi's trust like this broke her heart. Her relationship with her boys had been the rock in her life for so long. When her parents died, it was her team that helped her through it. As much as Ino had tried, she knew she could never compare.

She could feel the tears start to well up in her eyes as she stared at her former sensei. He had that same look in his eyes, the one she could not place, only know she knew what it was.

It was disappointment.

The realization only added to the current water works she was bottling up. Anything else she could have handled, at this point she was begging for it to be anger, so that she could justify her own. But the look of sheer disappointment in her was like torture. As much as she liked to pretend that what others thought of her did not matter, it always mattered when it came to her team. She loved the way Naruto idolized her, the way Sasuke recognized her as 'a worthy teammate' and the way Kakashi viewed her as an ideal student and brave kunoichi. But here he was, looking down at her, filled with disappointment.

"I can…", she said, attempting to choke back the tears and trying not to let her voice break.

"What? Explain? I really do not want to hear it Sakura.", he shook his head and pressed his fingers to his temple, as if he were tired. "If that is the way you want to live, then I will stand down. I will stay out of your affairs."

And with that, he was gone.

As soon as the leaves resulting in his signature 'poof' hit the ground, so did Sakura. Her knees sank into the earth and for the first time in a while she let her tears fall.

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The grand sound that could only be made by the clashing of a Chidori and Rasengan was what finally cause her to rise. By the sounds of it, Sasuke and Naruto's 'little spar' was finally over and, no doubt, they both needed some healing.

The tears had long since disappeared, leaving behind no trace, not even red eyes. Though the initial shock of Kakashi's actions may have caused the tears, the epiphany that occurred later had cleared them up. She realized that she was acting silly, she should not be crying. She had gotten what she wanted, Kakashi would no longer participate in the battle against Sakura having a life. His absence would no doubt cause Sasuke and Naruto to stop as well, so she should be ecstatic. Now she could freely date whomever she chose without having to worry for his life. She had her freedom. Right?

This was all true, but it still stung. In all her planning and imaging of this day, she never imagined she would feel anything but happiness, let alone disappointment. She brushed it off as just shock and went to tend to the two spar partners.

She came to the opening to see exactly what she had expected. A destroyed training field, spot of scattered blood and two very tired looking shinobi.

She let out a long and heavy sigh, "Alright, who's first?", she asked.

"Sasuke is first, Sakura-chan. He is in far worse condition than I am.", Naruto hollered with a chuckle from his position on the ground.

On the other side of the field, the raven-haired shinobi was attempting to stand up, leaning on the trunk of one of the few trees that seemed to survive. "Hn, I believe you should tend to Naruto first. After all, the loser is in far worse shape than I am, obviously."

"Loser?! You are the one that lost Teme!", the blonde shouted, also trying to get up as gracefully as possibly.

The medic shook her head as the two began to argue as to who it was that actually won. By the looks of it, Sakura would have said they both lost, but of course she would never say anything.

Lucky for her, Shizune walked into the clearing at that precise moment. "Uh, I am sorry to delay you Sakura." she said as she looked at the two wounded boys "What I miss?"

"Nothing Shizune. Just a 'friendly sparring match'.", Sakura replied with a giggle.

"I should have known. My mistake for leaving these two alone in a training field with no medic. But where is Kakashi? I figured he would mediate and stop things from going too far.", she stopped looking at the boys in search of Kakashi.

"Don't bother. He left. He saw I was here and left it to me.", Sakura responded with a friendly smile.

"Probably had some reading to do.", Naruto added with a smirk.

"Hey Shizune, mind helping me out with these two?, the younger medic asked signaling to her two teammates.

"Of course.", she replied before proceeding towards the blonde.

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Ten minutes of healing later, Naruto decided that they all needed food. Shizune declined in favor of returning to the Hokage tower, she informed Sakura that they would reschedule their training session and was on her way. Sakura half wished that she needed at the tower as well, she would rather do tedious paperwork then have to go to Ichiraku Ramen again.

The walk there was pretty ordinary, Sasuke and Naruto lost in some sort of pointless argument with Sakura interjecting at just the right moments without getting too involved and walking between the two to prevent any physical contact. They were almost at the stand when Naruto stopped the bickering and pointed at something

"Hey Sakura, isn't that your partner?", he asked

Sakura followed his finger, and sure enough there he was. He was walking on the other side of the street. To the boys it would look like he just happened to be heading towards the direction they were coming from, walking slightly faster then normal. But Sakura knew better, the two had spent moths avoiding each other in public when either of them was with people, so as not to draw attention to themselves that could lead to questions. It was a pretty small village, so these things did happen often, but each time they would pass each other they would exchange little looks. This happened to be one of the rare occasions when Sakura had not noticed him, but instead it was Naruto who pointed him out.

She saw this as an opportunity to get of lunch and was about to excuse herself to 'go ask him something about an upcoming mission', but once again Naruto had beat her to the punch.

"Let's invite him to lunch.", he said excitingly. Before Sakura could even answer, he shouted. "Oi, Takashi!"

"Its Takeshi, Naruto," Sakura moaned with irritation. When she looked up, he was there, with his friendliest smile on.

"Good afternoon Naruto-san.", he greeted

"Naruto is fine, no need for formalities. Since you are Sakura-chan's partner, you are kind of like us. You protect her on ANBU missions when we can't be there.", the blonde said with a smile.

"I think Sakura does more protecting then I do on missions. For one, she is a medic so I guess helping others is kind of in her nature and two, she is probably the strongest kunoichi I have ever met.", Takeshi responded with a wink to Sakura.

She could have kissed him right there. She was about to defend herself and deliver a bruising punch to Naruto's head before Takeshi spoke up. She was so used to sticking up for herself in front of her overprotective teammates, so it was nice to have someone else do it for once.

And for some reason, the two seemed to believe Takeshi more then they ever believed her. After he finished talking they both nodded their heads and agreed that she was a great kunoichi. She could feel a gush of pride building up inside her.

"So Takeshi, would you like to join us for some ramen?", she asked formally.

He gave her a questioning look before Sasuke spoke up, "Yeah Takeshi, we would really like to get to know you better, so you should come. Unless you are busy?"

"I can spare some time for ramen, as long as it is at Ichiraku, they have the best ramen." Sakura could remember telling him many times about Naruto's obsession with a certain ramen stand and smirked at his obvious attempt at flattery.

Naruto let out a very audible gasp. "I know, right?! I love Ichiraku's!", he practically shouted and then began to talk really fast about all his favorite types of ramen. Sakura had to give her man some credit, he walked right beside Naruto looking as if he were actually listening and nodding his head at all the right moments.

Sakura lagged behind the pair to walk with Sasuke. Her eyes never left Takeshi, watching him interact with her hyperactive team mate. She could not help but think that if this lunch went well, maybe the three guys would become friends and then Sasuke and Naruto would have to let them date. It was perfect.

The four of them walked into the stand and sat at the bar. Naruto sat next to Takeshi who sat between him and Sakura, with Sasuke at the end.

"Now where was I?", asked Naruto, trying to continue him and Takeshi were having before ordering.

"Dobe, I don't think he wants to hear anymore about ramen.", Sasuke said while rolling his eyes. "Let's talk about something we are all interested in, shall we?"

Naruto put his finger on his chin in an obvious display of trying to think. After only a minute it was clear he had not thought of anything. He looked at Sasuke beseechingly, "Like what?

Sasuke and Sakura let out a perfectly synched groan.

Takeshi chuckled a bit, "Why don't you guys tell me more about Sakura-chan?", he asked. "I have not been with her as long as you guys have and am interested to know more about her."

It seemed innocent enough. A simple question about their pink haired friend's past. Sakura figured it was okay, but she was wrong. Like many previous times in her life, she was wrong.

She had thought that her teammates would discuss past missions and talk about what an amazing kunoichi Sakura was. But instead, her boys decided to divulge all of Sakura's past mess up and most embarrassing moments.

"And then there was this time during a mission to Wave Country. We had set up tents for the night and were about to go to sleep when we heard Sakura hear screaming. She was not in her tent, so we split up to find her. A few minutes later Kaka-sensei walked back to camp with a very red Sakura. It turned out that while she was 'taking care of some business' a spider had crawled up her leg.", Sasuke explained with an amused smirk. Takeshi chuckled a bit and Naruto was lost in full blown laughter.

"She can stand up to Akatsuki members without batting an eyelash, but one spider and she turns into a five year old.", Naruto managed to get out, before once again erupting in laughter.

Deciding to be a good sport and not pummel Naruto into the ground, Sakura simply stated, "In my defense, it was actually an extremely rare and highly poisonous killing spider."

The three boys stopped to look at her before all three began to laugh, even Sasuke (though only mildly). "That is a pretty weak excuse Sakura", Takeshi said.

Sakura could not help but emit her own laugh at her attempt to save face.

Soon after, the conversation turned to each of them taking a turn to tell an embarrassing story about someone else that had all four of them non-stop laughing.

At one point, while Naruto was telling some tale about something that Sasuke did, Sakura turned around on her stool to watch people's feet walk by outside. There was a parade of women in heels, men in boots, children in sandals and shinobis walking nonchalantly in the street. Then a familiar pair of legs stopped in front of the stand.

Sakura held her breath in a little. She could tell it was Kakashi outside. The sound of them laughing had obviously caught his attention and it appeared as though he was outside debating whether or not he should enter. She knew he knew she was in here, he was nothing if not a master at detecting chakra signatures. He could, without a doubt, tell that Sasuke, Naruto and herself where inside, but there was no one he could recognize Takeshi's chakra. To Kakashi's senses it would seem that there was unknown signature that happened to be eating ramen as well, but he would have no idea that Takeshi was eating with them.

'_Please don't come in.',_ she found herself silently hoping. She was not ready for Kakashi to see all of them together. There was no telling what he might do, what if he told Naruto and Sasuke? They were all just starting to like each other, and Sakura did not want it spoiled.

'_Kami-sama, please don't let him come in.'_

If there was a god, then Kakashi would continue walking right now. If there was a god, the three boys sitting with her would continue talking and become friends. If there was a god, everything would continue smoothly.

But unfortunately, it seemed there was no god.

_To Be Continued._

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_Reviewers_**:**

**oni-hime-san-** I am sorry the last chapter did not explain enough for you. I hope this chapter helps, and if not just let me know what you want to know and I will be sure to add it to the next chapter. I am sure Sakura had plenty of fun that night, .

**Mateba**- Your input seriously helped and I hope this chapter meets your standards. Like I said in the intro, I love your work and value your opinion so just let me know if there is anything I can do to make it better.

**a thousand cranes-** I am sorry to say that, for now at least, Takeshi is actually going to be a pretty good guy. Just a bit kinky lol. I want readers to see why Sakura likes him so much, so that the emotion is better when Sakura does eventually go for Kakashi. Don't fret, this is most definitely a KakaSaku fic!

**burningdarkness-** Oh yeah, Kakashi knows all. Learn to accept it, lol.

**JirairyasGirl-** I agree with the whole 'no more restaurant if Sasuke and Naruto knew' thing. But those two can be a bit dense sometimes, and were a bit occupied talking. I am glad to hear you like InoChouji, I definitely plan on including quite a bit of them.

**HarmonyRose-** Thank you, life-like is most definitely what I am going for. The more life-like the better!

**roxnroll-** We all know that Kakashi is an introverted person, so he is definitely keeping some stuff to himself. We will have to see eh?

**CeruleanRider-** Hope this chapter was enough to satisfy your need for Kakashi's reaction.

**JEDIhobo-** I am sorry to hear you are not a fan of Keshi-kun, lol. Don't worry, this is a KakaSaku fic, so he will be gone soon enough.

**animefan-** I am planning on making this fic pretty long, if that's okay with you. I like longer fics and feel that any Kakashi pairing fic HAS to be long if it is to be realistic because he does not easily express his feelings. I am also sorry to hear that you do not like Takeshi, I don't think he is so bad. But he definitely is a perfect.

**NaruHinaforever-** Not in this chapter, it is going to take a while for Kakashi to be so open about feelings for Sakura.

**Norikoko**- Hope this chapter was long enough for ya. Lol

**nelle4850**- I love that you love my writing, I know I make quite a few grammatical errors, I am trying to be better about rereading and editing. I tried to make the plot as original as possible and not just the generic 'Kakashi and Sakura pose as a married couple and fall in love' storyline (even though I love those fics lol) Now you can go back to chapter two and click that next chapter thingy. Again, I apologize for the long update.

**nandy**- I LOVE the fact that you like Takeshi!! I like him too, even though I like Kakashi more. I will try to make Naruto and Sasuke more overprotective for you, but the point is that Kakashi is the most overprotective.

**babyycakes**- I am sorry to say this, but it is going to be a while before anything serious happens between Sakura and Kakashi.

**Juniper11**- I will try to keep my rule in mind for next time, since this chapter is also a cliffy, he he he. And no, he does not kill him. Yet. (just kidding, he does not get killed by Kakashi. That's a bit harsh)

_And a special thanks to:_

Goddess Psyche

ashleysays17

LadyNorth76

nomanslandvicki

animeaddict19

Bryack

cutecrazyice

monodie

shewhoisealone

Sakura15243

trunksfan001

ArcaneDesires

Regin

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THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING!!

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_Check out my other fics __**Family Values **__and __**To Produce an Heir**_

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	4. Squabble

_**Author's Note:**__ Okay okay, I know I said I would have it out by the weekend. BUT! I have good news! I got a Beta (well, two for this chapter actually) so no more mistakes (hopefully). I wanted the reading to flow better without the interruption of an error. I hope it shows and it improves the story._

Thanks again to Kamitori and Sakuramar

Kyuu: Still send me this chap. I will repost the chapter if you caught anything else. Sorry again for the rush, I do not want to exclude you.

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Naruto. _

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_**Chapter Four**_

_Squabble_

Kakashi entered in his typical fashion: his face hidden behind one of his beloved books, his steps lazy and his appearance as messy as ever.

After ducking under the curtains and entering the small shop, he began to walk over to the counter. Slowly he brought his book down to address his teammates, but stilled once he saw them.

Sakura could see his eyes resting on Takeshi's back as he continued to laugh and talk with Naruto. He then skipped over Sakura to see even Sasuke smiling, his eyes widened only briefly before once again dropping and moving over to land finally on Sakura.

She sat facing towards him with a mildly scared expression.

He had so much power right now. He could spoil everything, including their lunch, by dropping the bomb now and causing a mini riot. He could personally start a fight with Takeshi and kill him—though they are both Anbu ranked there was no doubt that Kakashi was far superior—or finally, he could simply leave.

The different possible outcome raced through Sakura's mind: him leaving would be the best option, but she feared she might react the same way she did earlier if he left again. Besides, she wanted him to stay. She still did not know why it affected her so much that he would want to stay away from her; she reasoned that it must be because they had known each other for so long and he was as important to her as Naruto and Sasuke.

As much as she wanted him there and to be accepting she had to settle for him leaving as the best option for right now, her boys were actually starting to get along. There was hope now.

As if reading her mind, Kakashi nodded softly and turned to leave.

"Oi, sensei!" Naruto screamed to the retreating figure. It seemed the brilliant ninja had just realized Kakashi's presence. "Where ya going?"

At this point, Naruto and Sasuke had completely turned around on their bar stools. Naruto still had a large fox-like smile on his face, while Sasuke wore a curious expression- obviously wondering why Kakashi would leave without saying anything to them.

"Yo." He responded while turning around once more to face the group with his signature eye crinkle.

"Have some ramen with us. We were just talking." The blond said excitingly.

"Actually, I was just on my way out." He answered.

"Really? Where?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

"Ano, I was actually on my way to help some old lady with her cat. It seems it is stuck in a tree and the woman could not cross the street to help the poor thing. So…"

"Liar!"

"Sit down," Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time, both accustomed to their former sensei's ways.

He was about to protest again when the rumble in his stomach betrayed him. With a look of defeat, Kakashi moved and sat next to Sasuke.

Takeshi remained facing away from him and visibly stiffened at the mention of the older jounin. Ever since the previous lunchtime experience, the young Anbu was terrified of the man. He still suspected that Kakashi might know about his relationship with the Team Kakashi's cherry blossom. This was the famous copy-nin, and Sakura had already told him about the things he did to previous suitors.

Sakura could see Takeshi's uneasiness and leaned in to tell him to relax. He let out a long breath he did not know he was holding and flashed Sakura a shy smile, before working up his courage to face the new comer.

"Nice to see you again Kakashi-sempai." he said with a genuine smile.

"Oh, same to you….." Kakashi replied with a bored expression "My apologies it seems I have forgotten your name."

"Its Takeshi," he answered cautiously. He had a feeling that the man did not really forget his name and that he was making some sort of cryptic insult. "Murakami Takeshi"

A small hum that signified he heard him was all that he said before Kakashi turned to place his order.

Takeshi flashed Sakura a curious look, which she returned, before he turned back to Naruto.

"So you were telling me about a mission to Lightning?" He prompted, hoping to restart the previous conversation and relieve the building tension.

"Oh yeah," Naruto practically screamed as he remembered. "It was one of our first missions after Teme and I became jounin, like Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. The objective was to find and assassinate a man who had been heading an organization that recruited rouge ninjas."

The memory clicked in Sakura's mind and she chanced a look at Kakashi. It seemed that he remembered the mission too, and had been watching Sakura. The two made brief eye contact before he chose to concentrate on the meal that had just been placed in front of him. Even though he would not look at her, Sakura continued to watch him as Naruto continued the story.

"Once we found him and collected enough information on everyone involved, we chose a night for the assassination. Sakura suggested that while we were there, we might as well try to take out some of the more dangerous rouge ninjas there. So we decided on a night where the leader, Fukao, had scheduled a meeting with three of his most prominent members. We recognized the three quickly from our Bingo Books and knew that they were high level killers. Hand to hand combat would be risky so we decided to be as covert as possible.

We each had our assigned roles. Sakura's was to infiltrate the group as a possible a prisoner and possible joiner. As our best actress, this was a simple task for her. She had built quite a strong reputation by this point and her name was very well known for being the only apprentice to the Leaf Village's Hokage and a legendary Sanin. While she distracted the four targets in a room together, Teme and I were to plant tags in key locations to destroy the place and the office especially. Meanwhile, Kakashi was to take out all minor disturbances and keep the area clean.

Everything went perfectly as planned, as always, and we walked away killing not only our target, but also eight rouge ninjas from the bingo book and a dozen other rogues. Kakashi himself took out three of Bingo targets and nine of the others, and Sakura got Fukao, two Bingo targets and one rouge. Teme and I each took out a rouge nin, but I killed two Bingo targets while he only got one." At this point, he gave Sasuke a smug look, before finishing "It was one of our most successful missions and we walked away pretty much unharmed; nothing a half hour with Sakura couldn't fix."

"That is quite impressive Naruto. You guys really make a great team," Takeshi commented, feeding Naruto's big head.

"Yup," he replied with a huge grin before getting a look as if he realized something "I'm sure you and Sakura make a great team too. I mean, it's pretty rare for an Anbu team of just two people, so you guys must work really well together."

"I like to think so." Takeshi replied with a smile while looking at Sakura. She flashed him a matching smile and hoped no one could see the light blush that briefly graced her cheeks.

"Gochisou sama deshita." Kakashi said with a bow to the owner, breaking the brief moment of silence.

He then stood up to leave, not once looking at anyone but the man in front of him clearing away his empty bowl.

"Thanks for lunch. Jaa." With a wave and a 'poof', he was gone.

Takeshi was surprised by the quick disappearance of the older shinobi, but one look around told him that this was a usual thing.

"Typical Kakashi," Sasuke commented as he picked up the check the owner had placed on the counter. "Sometimes I think the only reason he eats with us is to get a free meal. Otherwise, he would starve."

"Cheap." Was all Naruto said as he reached down to grab his frog purse.

"That's okay Naruto. I'll get this." Takeshi said as he took the bill from Sasuke. "It is the least I can do to thank you guys for inviting me out." He took out a single large bill and folded it with the check paper before handing it off. The man behind the counter graciously accepted it and went toward the cash box.

"You can keep the change." Takeshi added. After seeing the surprised look on the man's face, he continued, "For putting up with all the talking."

"Arigatou gozaimasu." The man said with smile.

"Yeah, thanks Takeshi." Naruto said appreciatively.

"Hn." Was Sasuke's only response.

"Thank you Takeshi-kun." Sakura said softly, gaining his attention. "I am feeling a bit tired from the training and large meal, you guys. I think I'll head home."

"I'll walk you." Takeshi added quickly before Sasuke or Naruto could offer.

Sakura merely nodded and stood up. Before she left, she waved to her two remaining teammates and told them she would see them tomorrow.

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The two groups left the small shop in two different directions: Naruto and Sasuke headed back to the training fields, and Sakura and Takeshi walked towards her apartment.

"That was nice, eh? It seems you guys are getting along." Sakura began.

"Yeah, they are not as scary as you made them out to be, even though Kakashi still scares the shit out of me. What was up with him?" He asked.

"I talked to him this morning. He knows about us." She stated bluntly.

"What?! That whole time in there, he knew?! Sakura, you should have said something! He could have killed me in there!" He said frantically, nervously looking around as if the said shinobi was watching.

"Relax, Keshi-kun. He only said that he would stay out of it and let me handle this." She replied with a sad smile. "He mentioned nothing about you killing you," she added with a giggle.

"Real funny, Sakura." He responded.

By this time, the pair had reached Sakura's apartment and scaled the stairs leading up to it.

"Ino?" Sakura called, to see if her roommate was there.

No response.

She turned back around to see Takeshi taking the green hair scrunchy off the inside doorknob and placing it out the outside handle.

Sakura and Ino had developed this system once they moved in together. Since they were both constantly bringing guys home, (Ino more so than Sakura) they knew they needed to set something up that would notify the other when the apartment was currently being used. The scrunchy was the perfect way to let the other know, while still being discreet. It was much more subtle than placing a sign on the door.

Sakura had already told Takeshi about the system, so she knew what he was insinuating. He shut the door and looked at her with a predatory grin. "So Sakura-chan, don't I get a reward for being a good boy during lunch?" He asked while moving closer to her.

"Hm, I don't know Keshi-kun." She mused as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "What did you have in mind?"

"I am sure you will think of something." Was all he could say as he began to nip and kiss her neck.

She giggled at his playfulness and let herself succumb to the pleasure. He began to move them towards her bedroom. Sakura walked backwards with him guiding her until she could feel the edge of the bed against her legs. Takeshi pulled back and pushed her onto the bed. She bounced back slightly before he covered her body with his own.

His lips found hers in a fierce passionate kiss, before he once again moved down her chin to attack her neck. He found the one place he knew was ticklish and placed his lips over it.

"Takeshi!" Sakura giggled as she pushed against him slightly. This only caused him to laugh and continue to tickle her, now using his hands to lightly touch her sides.

She giggled louder and pushed him off her completely. He laughed at her antics as he landed next to her.

The movement on the bed had caused an object on Sakura's nightstand to fall to the ground with a small thump. Sakura sat up to see what had fallen; when she picked it up she saw that it was her old picture of Team 7. The fall had caused a small crack in the protective glass covering. The crack went straight down the middle, between Sakura and Kakashi.

"You ok?" She heard Takeshi ask from behind her on the bed.

"Uh, yeah, it's just a little crack, I'll fix it later." She responded while placing the picture back on her nightstand, both answering Takeshi and reassuring herself that she would fix things between Kakashi and herself.

"Good." Was his only response before grabbing her from behind and laying her on the bed. She could see that he was still very much in the mood, but she was still busy thinking about her teammate.

Her thoughts were so wrapped up in thinking about a certain silver haired jounin that she barely registered that her skirt was being dragged down her long legs, or that Takeshi's hands were now dangerously close to her panty line.

_'I should not be thinking about him at a time like this',_ Sakura reasoned, as she tried to get herself focused back on Takeshi. However, as soon as his fingers went beneath the thin fabric her memory snapped and she remembered how upset Kakashi had gotten over Takeshi touching her like this.

"Takeshi……stop…" She whispered.

He looked up at her and his fingers paused against her core. "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this right now. Can we just talk?" Sakura asked

"Talk? Can't we finish first? Then I promise I will give you my undivided attention." He said as his fingers continued.

"No." Sakura responded and began to sit up, putting space between her and Takeshi.

"Why, Sakura?" He asked, with annoyance and a hint of anger in his voice.

"I am just not in the mood right now." She answered plainly.

"But I am." He reasoned, allowing the anger to seep into his voice more clearly.

"So what?!" She yelled back. She stood up to put her skirt back on.

Takeshi let out a sigh and got up as well. "Kami, Sakura, I just don't get you. You are always '_in the mood'_. What is so different now?"

"I just have some stuff on my mind, okay?" She said, her tone softening a bit.

"Like?" He prompted.

"It's just, my team…." She started.

"Ah, I should have known." He cut in.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, getting angry.

"It's always about 'your team'. They are your old team Sakura, when was the last mission you had with them? I am your team now, when will you see that? When will you care for me the way you care for them?" He retorted, allowing his own anger to match hers.

"They will always be my team, and no matter how close you and I get, Takeshi, you will never be able to replace them. If you are going to be with me, you need to understand that. They are my family," The pink haired kunoichi explained.

There was a moment of silence before Sakura continued. "I think you should go Takeshi."

A look of fear and panic crossed his face, "Sakura, come on. I…."

"Takeshi, I just need to be alone right now. Okay?" She said with a reassuring smile.

A small wave of relief passed through him and a sad smile adorned his face. "Okay Sakura. You know where you can find me, right?"

"Yeah." Was all she said.

Takeshi gave her a small kiss before showing himself out; making sure to move the scrunchy off the door when he left.

_To Be Continued_

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**Translations**:

_Gochisou sama deshita_- Thank you for the food (said after eating)

_Jaa_- short for 'Jaa ne', which is the proper casual way to say see ya later.

_Arigatou gozaimasu-_ Thank you very much

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**END NOTE:** I will no longer be responding to reviews at the end of chapters, instead I have taken to responding individually to each comment as I receive them.

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**THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING!!**

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_Check out my other fics __**Family Values **__and __**To Produce an Heir**_

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	5. Secret Promise

**Author's Note:** I know this chapter is late and I do have my reasons, but I will not bore you all with them. I will warn you all that there is a Flashback in this chapter and that I will NOT be using italics to write it. I will clearly label the beginning and end, so no one should be confused. If anyone has a real problem with this, I am sorry.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto

**Special Thanks To:** Sakuramar, Kamiitorii, and mystical spirits.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_Secret Promise_

* * *

It was a long time before Ino came waltzing back into the apartment. By that time, Sakura had already redressed into her most comfortable sweatpants and an old torn shirt, reading on the couch.

Ino quickly recognized it as one of Sakura's many medical research scrolls, which always meant that something was wrong. Whenever Sakura was down, she would put all her energy into those scrolls as a way of drowning herself in her work.

The blonde laid down on the opposite side of the couch and placed her feet obtrusively on top of Sakura's scroll, gaining a quick reaction from her pink-haired roommate.

"Ino! What the hell?" she screamed, glaring at the owner of the feet, who had yet to move them.

"Spill, Forehead," she smirked. "I know something is bothering you, and I know you want to tell me."

Sakura remained defiantly quiet and tried to refocus her attention on something else in the room. Seeing this, Ino removed her feet and placed them back on the ground. But instead of getting up, she moved closer.

"Aw, come on Sakura," she pleaded. "You know you always feel better after you tell me things. Maybe I can help."

Sakura looked at her best friend and, for a minute, considered telling her everything. About Kakashi and his ultimatum and about Takeshi and their fight. But Ino couldn't help her. Besides, it was not that big of a deal, not to mention it was something she needed to handle on her own.

"It's okay, Ino. I just need some time. I'll tell you about it later, okay?" she replied honestly.

Ino sighed in defeat and got up from the couch. "Okay, Forehead."

Sakura watched as Ino went into her room, already in the process of undressing. She waited for the sound of the shower turning on before leaving the house.

The fresh air did wonders for her thinking, and soon enough she began to reason with herself in her mind.

_'Okay, so the basic question here is: how do I get back on Kakashi's good side? No, wait, that's not the question. The real problem here is: is Takeshi worth all this? No, Sakura, you can't think that way. There is no problem with you having a relationship; it's Kakashi that's wrong. But why is he so mad?'_

"Ugh," she said aloud, "this is so…troublesome."

Her word choice brought a smile to her lips and made her think of her lazy comrade. Impulsively, she looked up to the sky to gaze at the clouds. The moment her eyes set on the numerous twinkling stars instead, she had to admonish herself for forgetting it was nighttime.

Having nowhere in particular to go at this time of night, she decided to head somewhere high where she would be able to lay down and gaze at the stars.

Her feet silently took her to her destination and, opting not to use chakra, she began the long trek up the Hokage monument.

_'This walk is longer than I remember',_ she thought. '_Or maybe I'm just more tired than I thought'._ As if on cue, she let out a small yawn and decided that when she did make it to the top, she would definitely take a nap.

There was only one more flight of stairs left and Sakura slowly ascended them with the sole goal of lying down as soon as she reached the top. But her plan lay forgotten when she saw a familiar silhouette and shock of silver hair sitting on the edge of the mountain's cliff.

Her feet froze to the ground as she took a minute to think of what to do. She did not have to think long, however, because the man before her had obviously sensed her presence already. She could tell because his once slouched posture had been replaced with a stiff back, and it was obvious he was no longer reading.

"Yo," she said with humor in an attempt to lighten the mood.

He did not respond, instead bowing his head in a pose that looked totally defeated and depressed.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked plainly, still not looking at her.

It only took Sakura a second to form her plan. Rather than fight Kakashi, she would manipulate his playful side in an attempt to get him to talk to her again, with or without him realizing it.

"Can't a girl just take a walk around her own village?" she asked with a smile, slowly making her way over to his form.

"I suppose you can…" he responded weakly.

"What about you, Kakashi?" she asked with a large emphasis on the fact that she obediently left out the '-sensei' part. "Reading in the dark can't be too good for your eyesight. I'm a medic, I should know, right?" she ended with a light giggle.

She was only a few feet away from him when he suddenly stood up.

"Kakashi?" Her voice was soft and pleading.

He silently turned around and, without making eye contact, began to walk away. When he moved near her he was close enough that they almost brushed shoulders. Almost. Without even thinking, her hand shot out and grabbed onto his arm. Sakura was surprised when he did not immediately pull his arm away. They were still not facing each other so she could not see his face, but his voice held a warning tone when he spoke.

"Sakura. Let go of my arm."

In contrast, her voice was loud and on the verge of cracking as she pulled him to face her and said, "No. Not until we talk about this. What is wrong with you?"

He did not answer. Instead, he took a hold of the wrist holding onto his arm and again cautioned her. "Let go."

Since they were now face to face, she could see his eye held the same warning as his voice. Her own eyes sparkled from unshed tears she promised she would never let fall as she wordlessly begged him to listen to her.

A moment passed before she reluctantly let go and he continued to walk away. She watched his back retreat, and he had made it a couple more yards before he stopped and, without turning around, asked her, "Do you remember the mission in Lightning Country?"

"The one Naruto was talking about this afternoon?" she asked, already knowing the answer was yes. "Yeah, I remember."

"Do you remember the promise we made?"

Sakura thought back on the mission. Sure, the version Naruto had told Takeshi was correct, but it was only from his point of view. He would never know what really happened on that mission. No one would, except for her and Kakashi.

* * *

**Flashback**

* * *

"Listen up. You all know your assigned roles. We will separate here and travel in pairs to prevent suspicion. Sasuke and Naruto, make sure you work out your preparations so everything goes smoothly. I will expect every tag to be in place by the time I give the signal. Got it?"

"Hai," the boys said in unison before disappearing into the trees.

"Sakura, do you need me to go over your role again?" he asked, adopting a softer tone then the one he used on the boys.

"No, I've got it," she assured. "Oh, and Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks for lying for me to Sasuke and Naruto. I wouldn't want them knowing what I was really doing." She looked down at the blade of grass she was playing with between her fingers.

"Sakura. Look at me." She kept her eyes down. He used one hand to take the grass away from her and the other went under her chin to lift it up. Once she was looking at him he continued, "Sakura, there is no need to be ashamed of what you're doing. You are a kunoichi, one of the best Konoha has to offer, so you need to just think of this as another mission, and once it's over you can just forget all of it. Okay?"

Sakura smiled and nodded before throwing her arms around her sensei, hugging him tight. He patted her back soothingly.

When they separated he said that they should start moving. Sakura rummaged through her pack to retrieve the disguise she would have to wear on her mission. She disappeared behind the trees for about five minutes before reemerging.

"How do I look?" she asked, twirling around.

"Fine," was all she heard him say before he leapt up into the tree. Although Sakura was slightly annoyed by his lack of response, she did not think much of it as she jumped to follow him.

They separated about five miles from their destination, and the plan was set in motion.

Although she knew Kakashi would be watching her, Sakura was still a bit nervous. Her real role was to seduce Fukao into telling her the location of his men's emergency meeting place. Once word got out that the major players were killed, the lower men would be certain to be there and, to prevent one of them from trying to take control, Konoha shinobi would be waiting to take them all into custody.

It was true Sakura's name was well-known and that Fukao had heard of her, but not in the way Naruto and Sasuke had thought. Due to her strength and reputation, Sakura's picture was in the Bingo Book, and it seemed that Fukao was more interested in her picture than her stats. The inside man Tsunade had planted had often heard Fukao talk of her and how he loved to dominate strong women.

So the plan was: she was to be conveniently found by one of Fukao's men and to be taken to him. Once she was inside, she would get the necessary information out of him, as well as take down as much of the operation as possible.

Kakashi's job was to watch as closely as he could, and once she was a safe, he would signal Naruto and Sasuke to demolish the place. He also acted as her metaphoric safety blanket that would help with her confidence.

So far, the mission was going even better than expected. At the moment, she was being escorted into the base and right to the door of Fukao's office.

The lackey knocked timidly on the door and was answered with a loud grunt from inside.

"Ano," he said through the door. "Sir, I have something here you might want to see." '_Something?_,' Sakura thought, _'Really nice.'_

Sounds of movement could be heard coming from inside, and soon the door opened to reveal a very busy-looking Fukao.

He was actually a somewhat attractive man. He had a typical shinobi body but slightly stockier, built for strength rather than speed. His hair was a dirty blonde color that hung messily around his unshaven face, and partly covered his chocolate-brown eyes. He looked like he had just woken up and was not too happy about it.

His expression, however, changed when his chocolate eyes set on Sakura. At first it was almost as if he could not believe his eyes, but soon he was overcome by a look of pure happiness at his newest "gift".

"Haruno Sakura," he stated as the smirk grew on his face.

Knowing he liked his women strong and a bit disobedient, Sakura opted not to answer and instead gave him a nasty glare.

He chuckled at her behavior, obviously pleased. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked.

"Sir, I found her in the—"

The man did not even finish his sentence before the door was slammed in his face, Sakura and Fukao shut in behind it.

"Even better in person," he mumbled as he stared her at body down and up.

Once inside the office, he practically threw her onto the couch before sitting down beside her.

_'Mission time'_, she thought.

"And who might you be?" she asked with feigned politeness.

"I am Fukao Kano, leader of a very prominent underground revolution," he boasted, trying his best to sound impressive. "I doubt you would have heard of it, it's all very discreet."

"Hmm, interesting," she lied. "So, Kano-san, what place do I have in this organization of yours?"

"As of now, none. But I plan on making you a very large part of this organization. I have known of you for quite some time now, Haruno-chan, and I have every intention of making you my woman." All the while, he had been running his hand up and down her leg, and when he finished he paused his hand dangerously high on Sakura's thigh.

"And what makes you think I would accept such an offer?" she asked, placing her palm on his chest.

He moved in, bringing his lips to ghost over hers before he asked, "Why wouldn't you?"

He then completely closed the distance, covering her mouth with his own and capturing her in a fierce kiss.

Sakura kissed back as convincingly as she could, using the trick she learned in Kunoichi Class that involved imagining someone else. She pretended Fukao Kano was actually Shimatani Michio, an extremely good looking civilian she treated at the hospital a week earlier. The kiss was sloppy, but it appeared as though Fukao was thoroughly enjoying it.

When they broke for air, Sakura put on her most flirtatious smile and feigned a lustful expression. "Well, you seem to have the kissing thing down," she complimented, "but there is more to you than your lips, right?"

"True. But what more do you need?" he asked.

She took this opportunity to move to his neck, planting light open-mouthed kisses along his jaw line and tracing down to his neck and collar. Meanwhile, her hand had begun its own movements on his thigh. She was sure she was doing well by his incessant moaning and the feel of his hands in her hair.

"Hm, I don't know. Would I be sharing you?"

"No, just you, baby," he answered quickly.

_'Instantaneous answering',_ she thought, _'Perfect'_. It meant she had him right where she wanted him. He was starting to answer without thinking, meaning he was more likely to tell her exactly what she needed.

"That's good. You do seem to control a lot of men. Would you be sharing _me_?" she asked while trailing her tongue along his jugular.

"No. You're all mine," he growled.

She was not sure if it was too soon to ask the big question, but she was getting tired of this. She decided to go for it anyway.

"Would we be staying here all the time?"

For good measure, she also moved her hand, which was previously stoking his thigh, higher up to the point where she was actually cupping his manhood through his pants.

The bold move motivated him to go further, and the next thing Sakura knew, she was lying flat on her back and he was above her. He let out a low moan as he trailed his own kisses down her collarbone.

Sakura was afraid she went too far and now he would never answer her question. She was about to speak again when he beat her to it.

"Honey," he bragged, unaware he had played directly into her hands, "I've got places all over. I've got mansions on Nagi Island, Water Country, and Tea Country. Plus, I've got this safe base and another real secret place on the border of Earth and Bird Country."

_'Bingo',_ she thought,_ 'Now I just need to take him so I can search the base for other targets.'_ Her hand glowed a brilliant green hue, prepared to strike the final blow, but a knock on the door stopped her and forced her to continue her act.

Begrudgingly, he lifted his head from the crook her Sakura's neck to yell, "What is it now?!"

"Sir, your guests have arrived for your _special_ meeting," came the voice from the other side of the door.

"Shit," Takeo mumbled softly to himself as he got up and began to straighten his clothes. He rushed to his spot behind the desk, beckoning Sakura to take the seat in the corner behind him.

"You can watch and see just how powerful your man is," he said with what Sakura had come to recognize as his signature arrogant smirk.

He called for the others to enter, and soon eight men of varying sizes came in, each one of them a possible target that Sakura would have had to search for.

As expected, the men paid no attention to her as they took their places around the office and began their meeting. Sakura paid them little attention, as her focus was mainly on how to best take advantage of this ideal situation. All her ducks were sitting right in front of her, relaxed and not on guard; it would be so easy to take them all out with one attack. But how could she do it without them realizing it?

As she ran her options through her brain, there was only one that seemed to work out most ideally: genjutsu. Slowly and inconspicuously, she raised her hands together and formed the necessary seals.

Sakura had become more than proficient in the art of genjutsu, having even studied under Kurenai-sensei for a while. Her favorite by far, and the one she was best at, was her sleep jutsu. It only worked if all the victims were distracted. The hardest part was that, while she was still able to move about freely, she had to keep her mind somewhat focused on maintaining the jutsu at all times or else it would break. So while they were all sleeping, Sakura would normally walk to each one of them and individually slit their throats, making a quick and quiet job.

As she made her way to her first victim she felt a disturbance in the jutsu, and before she could even turn around Fukao was on top of her. She kept her concentration so that the others would remain asleep, but her face did nothing to mask her shock.

"How did you…?" she tried to ask, but was silenced by the cold feeling of a kunai pressed against her throat.

"Stupid kunoichi, like some weak genjutsu would work on me. Don't you know who I am?"

As he spoke he dug the kunai even deeper, making blood drip to the floor.

He must have been using some sort of jutsu as well, because he was able to hold Sakura's hands above her head easily and for some reason she was unable to draw chakra.

She could feel the blade going deeper and deeper, and she truly thought she was going to die. She closed her eyes and saw the faces of her boys smiling back at her. Naruto with his huge grin that showed all of his teeth. Sasuke's small, barely-there smirk. And Kakashi with his signature eye crinkle. Her final thought was '_I_ _let them all down'_ before she succumbed to the numb feeling.

But just when she thought she was going to lose it completely, Takeo suddenly stopped. She only had a moment to be curious before his body fell away with a shuriken in his back, and she could see a worried-looking Kakashi standing behind him.

Sakura could feel the chakra returning to her control, and the first thing she did was heal her bleeding neck.

Kakashi, who had been watching motionlessly, slowly made his way over to her when she was finished and crouched beside her as she caught her breath.

"Sakura, are you okay?" he asked, sounding a bit…was it relieved?

"Hai, sensei," she answered as formally as she could.

He sighed. "Sakura. Really, are you okay?" he asked, sounding seriously concerned. He accentuated it by tucking her hair behind her ear and resting his hand on the back of her neck.

The look of such true care and sincerity from her normally stoic sensei was enough to cause tears to form in Sakura's eyes. She shook them away stubbornly before embracing him and again replied, "I'm fine. Really, Kakashi-sensei. Thank you."

Though Sakura appreciated their special moment, she cursed under her breath when she realized she had lost her concentration and saw the men started to wake up. Without speaking they both prepared to fight. Sakura could see three of the targets escape through the door, but was too distracted by her own opponents. She did not have to worry long though, because she could hear Sasuke and Naruto just outside the door taking down the enemies, and she and Kakashi quickly finished off their own.

As they ran out of the compound, Kakashi signaled the two boys to activate their tags, and after a series of explosions, the building was destroyed.

Later that night, while Naruto bragged about defeating one more guy than Sasuke, Sakura sat alone, thinking back on her near-death experience. She had come close to death before, but this time it had been a bit too close for comfort.

A rustling sound could be heard as Kakashi appeared from the bushes to sit by Sakura. The pair was silent or a moment before Sakura broke it.

"Kakashi-sensei," she asked timidly, "why did you tell Naruto and Sasuke that I killed Fukao?"

"Well," he responded in his usual lazy tone, "you did all the hard work. I just got lucky by catching him off guard while you distracted him."

Sakura responded with a laugh. "I doubt him cutting my throat qualifies as me distracting him."

She had thought it was pretty funny, but apparently Kakashi did not agree.

"You shouldn't joke about such things," he said seriously. "I could have… We could have really lost you back there."

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei."

"Sakura, I promise I'll always be there for you. You may find it annoying, but no matter how old or strong you get, I will always be there to protect you. If you let me."

She smiled sincerely. "I would like that sensei. And I promise to always let you be there, and I will always be there for you, too."

They sat in silence for a while longer, thinking back on the mission and contemplating their promise.

When they wrote their mission report, they had written that Sakura had taken down Fukao without any assistance or complications. And no one ever knew about her near death experience or that Kakashi had to save her. Sakura gained praise for her strength in taking down such a major player single-handedly, and she and Kakashi both received a lifelong promise to be there for each other always.

Their secret. Their promise. Forever.

* * *

**End Flashback**

* * *

Or that had been at least until Sakura had forgotten it and started keeping secrets from him. She knew his life was not an open book, but she never expected it to be; unlike Sakura, Kakashi was not a naturally open person.

So here she was, standing atop "Mount Hokage", as she and Ino often called it, staring at the back of one of her best friends all because she had forgotten the promise.

"Yeah, I remember it," she replied after her lengthy pause.

"I'm glad. You had obviously forgotten about it when you decided to keep things from me, Sakura. But I want you to know that I never did. I was always there for you," he said softly.

"Kakashi, I—"

He turned around to face her, his eyes still down, before continuing. "I was always there, but not you, Sakura. You've been gone for a while, but I guess I never really knew just how far away you were. I'm sorry, Sakura."

And with that, without allowing her even a word…

He was gone.

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_To be continued..._

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**Review! Please.**

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